Cherry Granola

Between Frog Prince and I oats and cherries are high on our list of favorite foods.  Typically, when we make granola, we make a big plain batch and then add in the dried fruits as we wish during the week.  But, making a cherry granola sounded like something we'd greatly enjoy already mixed together; so we have this a try.

We made a few adjustments to this recipe because of my nut allergy - we substituted rice krispies in place of the nuts.  I also added the brown sugar to the liquid mix so that the brown sugar would dissolve in the liquids.  

We greatly enjoyed this granola.  Although, when we make it again, we'll add the cherries at the end.  The cherries ended up getting a bit hard during the cooking process.  And, since we LOVE our dried cherries fresh out of the box {we buy Traverse City Cherries in a 4 lb. box -- they are the Cherry Capitol of the world!}, we know they'll be great as a topping to this granola too, even without the baking.  

Cherry Granola- Adapted from The Gaines Gang

3 C oats
1 C rice krispies
1 C dried cherries
1/4 C + 2 T brown sugar
1/4 C + 2 T honey
1/8 C olive oil
1/8 C water
1/8 tsp. salt

Combine the oats, rice krispies and dried cherries in a large bowl.

{Note, when I make this again, I will omit the cherries at this step}

In a second bowl, mix together the olive oil, honey, brown sugar, water and salt.  Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until well moistened.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, and watching carefully so that the granola doesn't burn.

Turn off the oven after 35 minutes and allow the granola to sit in the oven and crisp up.  I left ours in the oven for ~15 minutes to crisp.  

Enjoy with milk, dry as a snack, over applesauce, yogurt or frozen yogurt!

Linked to: Your Recipe, My Kitchen